The only reason to change Boston's big man combination is if Miami can bring an offensive threat on the floor who forces them to change up. Chris Andersen is a garbage man. Not a shot-creator. No need to change up. Sully (or Bass) can handle him comfortably. Heck, Paul Pierce can defend Chris Andersen or Joel Anthony effectively since those guys are so weak offensively.

Miami don't have any big man with size who can force that issue (to force Boston to change big man alignment) but they do have big quick forwards who can cause problems. So when Miami goes small with Shane Battier or Rashard Lewis at PF, it may be another matter.

Bass doesn't defend either player effectively and cannot take advantage of either player on the other end of the court. I don't think Sully can defend Battier or Rashard effectively either and we have yet to see whether he can punish either one in the post (although I like Sully's chances there, I would expect Sully to be able to do if Doc gives him the post touches). So it would be either be Sully and play power basketball through the post or go small with Jeff Green and matchup against Battier.

Was there a rumor this would happen? What is this based on? Andersen has been a DNP in every non blowout since he has been signed, and is basically just a poor man's Joel Anthony.

Chris Andersen is a rich man's Joel Anthony because he can rebound the ball.

C.Andersen is still getting in shape after his injury layoff. That is why he hasn't been playing yet. So far, they have only played C.Andersen at the end of a big blowout win.

Miami's staff are apparently very happy with his progress conditioning wise. I can't remember whether they said he was close to playing shape or not yet but I remember they were very happy with the progress he's been able to make in a short-period of time since joining the team. Seemed confident C.Andersen could get back to full fitness.

The best thing the Heat have going for them is Lebron at power forward. I don't think they're going to mess with that.

Spolestra has been using less and less of it as the season has gone on.

Less, perhaps, but Lebron still has seen the lion's share of his minutes at PF this season. I think we'll see the same in the playoffs.

I would love to know how many minutes LeBron is actually playing at power forward and how many of those minutes is Battier actually playing power forward.

Because most of the time when I see Miami, it has been Battier defending and rebounding the PF position (not LeBron) and being defended by the power forward on the other end of the floor.

I think LeBron is still playing the vast majority of his minutes at SF with Battier playing PF. Battier just isn't getting credited with those minutes.

I don't know. In the minutes that are being attributed to Lebron at PF ), his rebounding (11.6 rebounds per 48 minutes) is significantly higher than the minutes being attributed to SF (8.1 rebounds per 48 minutes). His opponents' production is a similar story.

I think the reason for that rebounding jump is because Lebron is playing closer to the hoop, at PF.

The best thing the Heat have going for them is Lebron at power forward. I don't think they're going to mess with that.

Spolestra has been using less and less of it as the season has gone on.

Less, perhaps, but Lebron still has seen the lion's share of his minutes at PF this season. I think we'll see the same in the playoffs.

I would love to know how many minutes LeBron is actually playing at power forward and how many of those minutes is Battier actually playing power forward.

Because most of the time when I see Miami, it has been Battier defending and rebounding the PF position (not LeBron) and being defended by the power forward on the other end of the floor.

I think LeBron is still playing the vast majority of his minutes at SF with Battier playing PF. Battier just isn't getting credited with those minutes.

I don't know. In the minutes that are being attributed to Lebron at PF ), his rebounding (11.6 rebounds per 48 minutes) is significantly higher than the minutes being attributed to SF (8.1 rebounds per 48 minutes). His opponents' production is a similar story.

I think the reason for that rebounding jump is because Lebron is playing closer to the hoop, at PF.

I'm hoping that if we meet up with Miami in the playoffs that they stick with playing big minutes with Battier and James at the forward positions. It doesn't really matter to me which one is being called the small forward and which one is being called the power forward. I think our forward combination--as we saw in the last Miami game--of Pierce and Green matches up really well against that lineup. Again, it doesn't matter to me which of our guys is called PF and which is called SF. This gives us the opportunity to give Green big minutes against Lebron, allowing Pierce to be more of a help defender where he is still very effective.

I think the match ups start to become trickier for us if the Heat go "big" with Bosh and either Haslem, Anderson, or Anthony up front and Lebron as the clear small forward. This makes it harder for us to keep Green on Lebron.